vivaspeed

Stopped for a burger on the way home and came across a Nissan type meet. If I’d brought my other car tonight we would have pretty much been a Toyota* meet.

Whatever you do, do not accept an airport pickup from this man ^^ Bort kindly offered me a ride one time, which I was happy to take, but then at several points on the trip I seriously feared for my safety and death flashed before my eyes. Sliding around the back seat of the angry V8 Valiant coupe (2 door sedan?) with no rear seatbelts as he did the imperial ton passing slower traffic on twisty roads. I was not entirely comfortable with that situation. Drive it like you stole it comes to mind. Then we were regaled with stories of how he rolled a car while younger, and other interesting motoring calamities he had encountered - whilst entertaining, did not add to the feeling of safety. Then we were relieved of the near-death experience when he decided to do some road levelling with the sump of the aforementioned car, and it decided to drain the lubricating fluids, rendering it inoperable for the remainder of the event. Hence the nickname "Sumpson" was acquired. Then IIRC @yetchh gave me a ride back to Christchurch in his 121 which seemed to have an intermittent fueling problem and so it wasn't being super reliable either, but we made it. Such memories. TL;DR - if you don't want to die, don't travel to Hanmer with @RUNAMUCK

Damn it. I've got a thing that runs until 7, about an hour away from this.

I’m tossing up between this and the Southwards Cars and Coffee. Even washed the car. A rare event indeed.

Good effort guys. Awesome to see this thread. If you need any Viva specific guidance or leads on any parts feel free to get hold of me. Message me on here or @RUNAMUCK and @- i5oogt - both know how to reach me on the telephone.

I had been thinking about popping in for a quick visit on Sunday, but the way the conversation is going, well I’m not sure anymore…

Damn. Didn’t see that this was happening tonight otherwise would have been there. /Niki please send Outlook reminder for future meets

The 1159 is garbage and must be thrown in the bin. There was much more done to the 1256 in terms of tuning. The 1159 in SL90 or Brabham spec was definitely better than a stock 1256, but a worked 1256 is better than them all.

None. And if they did, most wouldn’t care.

The quick and easy path is to go to a later 1256 from a Chevette or late HC Viva, cam, Weber carb etc. Enough to be a usable daily. 1800 Magnum bits bolt up, and you can chuck a 2.3 CF Bedford motor in as they are the same block family but need some tweaking (higher compression, cam etc). I did that 20 years ago but wouldn’t waste my time doing that now. In fact any old pommy engine conversion, while period correct, is just a waste of time. You do want the 1800 brakes and rear diff though as both are larger and direct bolt up. You need to find an engine with a rear sump, or a narrow front sump as the steering rack is on the front of the crossmember and takes up space. The other potential issue is the 1800 brake master cylinder and booster is enormous and fouls on most intake manifolds. The easiest looking conversion nowadays is a B6 or BP Mazda engine from an NA/NB MX5. Having mucked around with Vivas for over 20 years, I’d go and buy a modern Toyota/Honda/whatever for hoons and just put a mildly warmed up 1256 into the Viva for a bit of period correct fun.

Next week is not great for me. Could do Weds at a pinch. Week after?

I'm keen for a meet just to say hi and catch up on the last 8.5 years...

Yeah I think it will work at @Nominal place thanks.

I knew you wouldn't have space, but might know of somewhere. Which you do... The OS communal car storage facility in the Wairarapa operated by Joe.

Thanks that would be rad, and just down the road too. Didn’t know if you had space and/or wanted more British car junk cluttering the place up! I’ll send you a message.

Hey local people, does anyone have a space to store and car and/or a trailer for a week or so in mid November? Doesn’t need to be indoors, but secure off the road and out of sight would be ideal. We’re moving up and will have a few days before we get settlement on the new house but need to dump a car and trailer for a few days / maybe a week. @Mourning Cupcake @AllTorque @Nominal @KKtrips @Goat etc

Damn, would have been keen but I’m back up north that weekend

What Joe didn’t add to his story was this thing also decided to pump all it’s fuel out in the engine bay, thankfully avoiding a fire. (But also causing us to have to walk back and find a jerry can of petrol) It also (unsurprisingly, being British) dropped all it’s oil out on KYs garage floor and henceforth became known as the Exxon Valdez.

Good to catch up last night and have yarns. Thanks guys. Shame about our quiz skills though...

Can do Tuesday night.

@GuyWithAviators pull finger and let me know what the plan is

I found this on my laptop a while back. Probably appropriate for small bikes and the east cape.

Keen. Not available Monday night or Thursday night.

I’ll be around the week of the 21st of Nov and keen to meet and have random yarns with strangers off the internet.

Nah next stint up there is Nov. 16th to 27th. Keen to meet up then, although all my old cars are down south now. Will bring a turbocoon instead.